OT: My Teeth are getting expensive.

soder33 · Dec 13, 2011

Well, I broke a molar a week ago Monday. Dentist said it broke into my pulp and that I had to have a root canal right away.
Had the root canal at 11 AM the same day. Then the pain started. By Tuesday morning, my gums and roof of my mouth got so sore, I couldn’t touch it with my tongue. Had to eat soup and oatmeal.
Got some antibiotics and today’s the first time I feel halfway decent. Still have the broken molar and hole in my jaw, but will have to wait until after the 1st of the year for my insurance to pay. Already used it all up this year on the this root canal and another tooth I was having problems with. My yearly limit is $1000, and I pay 50% of procedures. I have spent more than $2000 on 2 teeth and I will still need a crown, which will cost me over $500 out of pocket. Hell to get old.

teddy52food · Dec 13, 2011

At least you are getting help. I was to 2 different doctors in the past month with no help from either one. 2nd one passed me on to another one yesterday.

37chief · Dec 13, 2011

When I was working I had dental insurance. Now I am on my own since I retired. I was eating a taco last month and something in the taco broke my back tooth. I should have made a fuss, but the tooth had a old filling, so I let it go. Cost me 1,300.00 for a crown. As my luck goes I was eating breakfast in the hospital while my wife was having some tests. I chipped the new crown a day later. Went back to the dentist, and he was able to file it smooth, not a bad chip. I was ready to go after the hospital. Then again how do I prove I chipped my tooth there? Do some of you old codgers remember as kids if we needed a filling the dentist just set us down in the chair and just started drilling, with nothing to stop the pain. Talk about child abuse. Stan

Paul in MN · Dec 13, 2011

I just finished up with the same deal. I was peacefully eating my breakfast food of sticks and twigs (granola) when I bit on a raisin that seemed to have a piece of coconut shell sticking into it. The shell part hit dead center in tooth #12 and split a perfectly good tooth right through the center. Dentist said the nerve was hanging out of the pulp cavity. Root Canal time (my first!), cobalt screws 19.5 mm long up into the full length of the roots, nearly into the upper jaw, epoxy tooth rebuild, and a crown to top it off. Cost more than a good running 8N ($2500).

Guess what.... over 65 YO, no insurance from the old employer, no Medical Savings acct, no dental support from Medicare, NADA. Write check for full amount and hope it doesn't happen again. Dentist said another patient had similar broken tooth and could not pay for the fix, so he just had to pull what was left of her broken tooth to keep the cost down.

I can just imagine what that $2500 could have bought.... a decent Bridgeport mill, a restored tractor of the late 40's, early 50's, a heating system for my shop, a trip to Sweden to visit relatives on their farms.... oh the list could go on for a long time.

Paul in MN

NawlensGator · Dec 13, 2011

I've had 3 implants with crowns installed in the last couple of years at 2 grand a pop. My insurance luckily covered 75%. I'm fixing to get several of my upper and lower front teeth capped for aesthetics which will set me back about 4 grand (ins won't cover). Teeth seem to be wearing faster in my old age.

Anonymous-0 · Dec 13, 2011

I hear you! Tuesday picked up my new hearing aids,$1900.00 worth. I can hear good enough,I have a hard time understanding what people are saying.Most speech sounds like the person talking is mumbling.I hope these aids clear up my problem with talk that is low keyed and garbled. I have adjusted to them very well I think. The aid is behind my ear with a small tube curving down to my ear canal with a very small cone shaped device attached to the end of the tube.The small device is seated in my ear canal and it is like a small speaker I guess. Hopefully my hearing will be corrected and "What" will be used less and less. No help from Medicare or my BCBS Ins.So had to bite the bullet and dig into my fund to pay for these devices.My greatest fear for them is if I lose one or both.I also have to pick up my new glasses this afternoon.Cateracts are a real eye problem.I hope this is it for my eyes and ears for a while. 74 years and looking forward to 75 in September. Cold,Dark Rainy day in the Desert today.Started to lightly rain yesyerday.I figure 1/2 inch rain so far.Been long time since we have had any rain.

NawlensGator · Dec 13, 2011

I needed hearing aids this summer and bought a pair (simplicity premier) online from sam's club for $730 that are just like yours. The customer reviews say they are as good or better than exensive ones. This is my first pair and they work great.

snoop-nc · Dec 13, 2011

I STILL have phobias about going to dentist from childhood experiences.

My dentist...current...is neighbor and an all around nice guy. However, when I walk into his office, I HATE HIS GUTS, and he knows it. He and his staff are as "gentle" as can be, but I HATE THEM ALL when I'm in the seat.

Rick

400Dtractorman · Dec 13, 2011

ACrider, I have 2 hearing aids that sounds like the one's you have. Mine work great, when I don't wear them you can really tell. You need to check with your homeowneres insurance, you should be able to put them on a seperate policy to cover them which shouldn't be a whole lot of money. I need to do it to mine cause I misplaced them a few weeks ago and was really worried. Mine cost 3000.00 which my wife's insurance paid the whole bill. Hope everything works out. ED

Billy NY · Dec 13, 2011

There's another aspect of the medical world I don't fully understand, though my dentist is a long time friend, they apparently do have high insurance and other overhead costs, still seems they make a ton of money, or it kind of looks that way, but when you need a dentist for something, there is not much you can do.

Something as of late about those silver Amalgam fillings, was said to me by the hygienist they conduct heat/cold, can cause fracturing, so I imagine at some point teeth can break, I had one do that, root canal, crown etc. Have more from when I was a kid, she mentioned having them re-done to the better material they now use, but that just seems like opening a can of worms from things I have read, jury still out on that.

One thing I cannot understand, and its so common, is people just don't take care of their teeth, we live in what year now ? No need to go into in detail, we've all seen it, and its beyond things like a loose or defective filling, or other similar things, never understood that, just lazy I suppose.

Personally, I always saw the value in ones dental hygiene, teeth and gums are in good shape every check up, she raves about the gum tissue being so healthy, only trouble is where the darned brush wore a groove, had one of those fixed, but still have one that is way sensitive, dentist reluctant to fix, says its not deep enough, well that depth don't matter to the nerve, cold drink or something hot will get your attention, for now apply some snake oil (seems like)to mineralize the area, works for awhile, then quits.

Not a soda drinker,nor much else that is hard on teeth brush 2x per day, floss 1x sometimes twice a day, brush them gums, and that's it, don't take much to keep em well at all, and yet some people just don't do it and suffer because of it, besides the cost....

Ellis Kinney · Dec 13, 2011

I asked my dentist why one tooth crown could possibly cost more that a 300 cu in truck engine replacement, but he didn't know what 300 cu in meant. He just looked at me.

GordoSD · Dec 13, 2011

I had all my fronts capped a few years ago. $700 each, dental plan paid for half. I had to space it out over three years. But have those "Paul Newmans" now!

Mike M · Dec 13, 2011

Alot of having bad teeth is genetics more so then care.

I have terrible teeth,as a kid I'd brush 2x a day went to the dentist all the time and got floride treatments and all. Got a ton of fillings. I still wonder if it was all a scam ?
so as he could make money. I also wonder if all the mercury in these fillings is hurting me too.

I have an uncle who NEVER took care of his and never had any problems either.

donjr · Dec 13, 2011

This is true. Docs are getting (have been)expensive. And, they have to pay a lot for insurance, and whatever. BUT, just let one of them need hay, or feed for the kid's horse, or some postholes for a fence. They turn into the poorest bustard on the face of the earth. The check will bounce, or they don't want to pay that much. They might not be able to cover next month's mortgage, and the kid's will starve. Mom will have to take back her Gucci shoes, and the Mercedes will have the wheels fall of if you charge that much to cut, bale and store his hay for him. Sorry, I got carried away. I meant to add lawyers to that---

Nancy Howell · Dec 13, 2011

My mother had a filing come out. Dentist told her there wasn"t enough of the tooth left to do another filing and would require a crown on the tooth. Cost her $1100.

Truck · Dec 13, 2011

Billy sometimes you don't know the whole story....Try operating three years in the red, no insurance, while your teeth literally fall apart because of side effects of certain prescribed drugs.
Went to the dentist to get releif when the pain was too much but to fix everything the estimates started at $26,000 and went up.

Now after a couple of semi profitable years the only option left is dentures, not something I look forward to but, slowly the bad ones are getting pulled one by one. Eventually I will have to get them.

Denture mills advertise extractions at $39 a tooth... when you do them all at once..That is just not an option for me....too much pain and not healthy according to several dentists I have seen..I have had teeth pulled for around 85-150 a tooth...but have had some hi faluting places want over $300 a tooth to simply pull one. Let's see....26 times $300?? $8000 just to pull out teeth???Flat out Robbery in my book.

I cannot imagine trying to get your teeth fixed making minimum wage working at Wallyworld.

8N'r--WI · Dec 13, 2011

SIL had a tooth implant done this week.....$4200.....she said they used a "piece of a bone" from a cadaver to fuse the implant into her jawbone?? that was a new one for me.

AG in IN · Dec 13, 2011

(quoted from post at 19:09:23 12/13/11) Alot of having bad teeth is genetics more so then care.

I had to have my upper molars removed because they were permanently aggrivating my sinuses. Only 1 had ever had a small cavity. Not cheap, more interesting to chew food, but I've felt a whole lot better since.

AG

Mike (WA) · Dec 13, 2011

Paul- I felt the same way about the 12 grand I spent to get my house re-roofed last summer. Sure costs a lot to do ANYTHING these days. . .

37chief · Dec 13, 2011

My daughter went to a dentist one time, and he told her she needed three fillings. She got another opinion, and she didn't need any. Stan

bison · Dec 13, 2011

I had my teeth all ripped out and a set of store bought installed 20 yrs ago.Cost me $1000 incl the fakes.
Never no more pain nor expenses since. :wink:

noncompos · Dec 13, 2011

Had what was left of my originals pulled 2-3 yrs ago, maybe longer...wife is Kaiser Health retiree, very good ex-employee coverage. Teeth (nice fitting, no problems, incl temp pair to let gums heal from extraction) either just under or just over $500 total plus $5 co-pay for each of probably 6-8 follow-up checks.
Americans pay more for less medical/dental coverage than anyone in first world. Yes, the rich come here for the latest state-of-the-art medical work; they can afford it.

Fawteen · Dec 13, 2011

I feel ya.

I'm 61 and while I still have my own teef, there's more gold, porcelain and silver in there than teeth.

Waiting for the Doc to give me a laundry list of stuff he wants to do. Just got my finances back in shape after losing my job and my dental coverage a year ago this past September.

old popper · Dec 13, 2011

I too have a great fear of going to a dentist. Only have 6 left on lower up front. Full plate up top and partial below. Went to one Army dentist, an old Major that got paid once a month whether he killed you with pain or not. I was in last month to get these last six cleaned, and was almost violently ill just thinking about going in. Those old dentists from the 40s and early 50s sure ruined a lot of us.

TomH in PA · Dec 13, 2011

I read an article by a fellow who went to about a dozen dentists around the country to get various opinions. He knew he had a couple of things that needed work.

About half the dentists missed what he really needed, several suggested things he knew he didn't need. Price for all the recommended work varied from $600 to $25,000.

Spook · Dec 13, 2011

I lost my dental insurance when GM went TI. I looked dental plans mailed to me, it was $1100 per year for a maximum of $1500 coverage. Add in the copays, I'd be out over 2K for the year. Now I am just pay cash. I do have a advantage, my BIL is a dentist. Btw, he's from the Boston area.

Dachshund · Dec 13, 2011

That's why I avoid the dentist AT ALL COSTS! My wife goes twice a year, I only go when the VA figures out they haven't seen me (for a cleaning) for 3-4 years, and THEN only to get them off my back.

John Scheie · Dec 13, 2011

Got all my bottom teeth crowned and with 2 root canals and 2 bridges with an american top plate in the philippines.nice job-good dentists. total cost-$832.00

bill b va · Dec 13, 2011

all the crooks are not car theives . some are dentists and doctors especially if you have money or insurance .

NEKS · Dec 13, 2011

Had my teeth cleaned once when in high school. Wife found this dentist she really liked (40 year later) so wanted me to get my teeth cleaned. Little gal cleaning them ask when was the last time you had your teeth cleaned. Said 40 years ago, well they sure are clean. Then tried to set up a appointment 6 month down the road to clean them again. Nope don't think so.

OT: My Teeth are getting expensive.

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